Glebe 2 Tunbridge Wells 0

Match 32/21/1897 - Tuesday, 14th September 2021 - SCEFL Premier

Glebe (2) 2 Philpott 2, Watson 17
Tunbridge Wells (0) 0
Attendance: TBC
Admission: £5 Senior
Programme: £2
Mileage: 70/1,835

The overarching view that I brought away from this game is that the SCEFL is not the two horse race that I thought it was. Glebe are more than capable of pushing the illustrious two, Chatham Town and Sheppey United, all the way and the games with those two will be engaging encounters, especially at Foxbury Avenue.

So that be said, two goals down in a little more than quarter of an hour and sometimes clinging on mainly by the fingertips of Aaron Lee Wharton (ALW), Tunbridge Wells did well to maintain a foothold in the game until they kicked down the slope in the second half and became a threat of their own.

ALW was beaten after just 80 seconds when Jamie Philpott, leading goalscorer in the SCEFL, took aim from 25 yards and found the bottom corner for his 10th goal of the season.

The Tunbridge Wells goalkeeper was once more brought into action after seven minutes saving well from Charlie Penny but after constant pressure the home side doubled their lead with a goal of perfect execution after 17 minutes. Philpott was sent clear down the right, outpacing the Wells defence before crossing from the bye line for Aaron Watson to score from close range. The speed of the counter attack defied its Step Five status.

Tunbridge Wells were now under serious threat of getting overrun but slowly they got themselves into the game. George Kamurasi, in the Glebe goal, turned over a Robbie Bissett header from a free kick and Miles Cornwell went close on a couple of occasions.

A great save from ALW from a Penny header kept the scoreline at 2-0 going into the break.

ALW was back in action early in the second period saving from Ainsley Everitt before, with the benefit of the slope, the Wells started to dominate the game. Jon Shea saw his effort deflected over the bar from the head of a Glebe defender whilst Kyron Lightfoot was starting to trouble the home defence, but their efforts came to nothing in terms of the score line.

ALW’s final act of heroics came with five minutes to go when he miraculously saved from no more than a couple of yards at the feet of Sol Baugh.

The game became very tetchy in its closing minutes as first a melee ensued following a tackle from Harry Hudson that brought the Tunbridge Wells player a yellow card and then a horrible challenge from Baugh brought an even more fervent coming together of virtually everyone on the pitch before the referee brandished the red card to Glebe’s Baugh.

The point and the accolades go to Glebe and we look forward to those Big Three encounters with great interest but Tunbridge Wells can certainly draw positives from their resilience on a difficult evening.